Concealed hole waist belt



11, 1 M. EPSTEIN 2,898,603

CONCEALED HOLE WAIST BELT Filed Aug. 2, 1956 FIG.|

INVENTOR. Mox Epstein g M 7 777 max;

CONCEALED HOLE WAIST BELT Max Epstein, Rochester, N.Y., assign'or toHickok Manufacturing Co., Inc., Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of NewYork Application August 2,1956, SerialNo. 601,801

9 Claims. (Cl. 2322) This invention relates generally to the class ofgarment supports and is directed particularly to improvements in waistbelts.

Waist belts as conventionally constructed, particularly those designedfor mens wear, comprise the waist encircling band,usually formed ofleather, to one end of which is attached a buckle carrying a tonguemember. The body of the belt for a portion of its length adjacent theother end is usually provided with openings through which the tongue ofthe buckle is extended when the belt is secured around the waist. Thesetongue receiving openings are exposed on the outer surface of the beltand, being subjected to strain from the engagement of the tonguetherein, usually become stretched and sometimes torn so that as the beltis let out or taken up to accommodate an increase or decrease in thewaist measurement of the wearer, the exposed tongue receiving openingspresent an undesirable or unsightly appearance.

. A principal object of the present invention in view of the foregoingis to provide an improved waist belt wherein the buckle tongue receivingopenings are concealed and accordingly when the belt is let out or takenup for the reasons stated, the previously used holes will be concealedor hidden from View.

Another object of the invention is to provide a waist belt which isconstructed in a new and novel manner whereby it presents to the view acontinuous line and form design uninterrupted by visible buckle tongueholes.

.Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved waistbelt having a backing portion and a facing portion and wherein thebacking or lining only is perforated to receive the buckle tongue, thefacing portion being constructed or designed in a novel manner to coverthe perforations but to also permit the point or end of the tongue toextend through for engagement with the cross bar of the buckle in theconventional manner.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a waist belt havinga back or lining perforated portion and a self closing front or facingportion through which the buckle tongue can be extended after passingthrough an aperture in the lining or backing portion.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a concealed holebelt which is so designed that it may be readily formed or built up ofone form of material, such as leather, or of materials of contrastingcharacter, such as leather and fabric, or of solid construction in theform of extruded plastic.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detail description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing forming part of the specification, with the understanding,however, that the invention is not confined to a strict conformity withthe showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so long assuch changes or modifications mark no material departure from thesalient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a front perspective view of a belt constructed United StatesPatent 2,898,603 Patented Aug. 11,

in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present inventionshowing the free end thereof engaged with the buckle and illustratingthe manner in which the buckle tongue passes through the hole concealingfront or facing portion;

Fig. 2 is a view in rear elevation of the connected buckle carrying endand free end of the belt showing the solid backing or lining portion'andthe apertures therein.

Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section taken substantially on the line3--3 of Fig. l and on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on an enlarged scale takensubstantially on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View corresponding to Fig. 4, through a modifiedconstruction wherein the backing or lining portion has a facing ofbraided material through which the buckle tongue projects for engagementin one of the openings in the backing portion;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view corresponding to Figs. 4 and 5 andshowing a one-piece extruded plastic construction.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 10 generallydesignates a concealed hole belt constructed in accordance with apreferred form of the invention wherein the belt may be fabricatedthroughout of one material, such as leather, for example.

In the construction illustrated there is shown an end portion 12 whichis turned back through a conventionally illustrated type of buckle whichis generally designated 14 and which comprises the hinge bar portion 16,the side bars 18 which extend from the ends of the hinge bar 16, and theforward face bar 20 which extends across the outer surface of the beltwhen the free end of the belt is engaged with the buckle. Theturned-back portion 12 of the belt forms a loop around the hinge bar 16in which loop is formed a slot S. In this slot is located the eyeportion 21 of a conventional tongue 22 which extends forwardly and is ofa length to have its forward or free end portion 23 rest against theouter side of the face bar 20, as illustrated and as is conventional.

The numeral 24 generally designates the usual loop which has one sidesecured between the body of the belt and turned back portion 12 to forma keeper for the free end 25 of the belt after it is passed through andsecured to the buckle.

The belt 10 comprises a one-piece backingportion 26 which is initiallyof a width greater than the final belt width whereby longitudinal edgeportions can be turned back as indicated at 27 to provide facing borderbands 28 along the longitudinal edges of the finished belt.

.The backing portion is in the form of a one-piece strip or band ofmaterial and lying along the forward side or face thereof is a liningstrip 29 which is of an overall width less than the over-all or originalwidth of the backing 26. This lining strip is secured to the backing byadhesive and also by the stitching which is subsequently employed forsecuring the several parts of the belt together, as will be hereinafterdescribed.

The free end portion 25 of the completed belt is preferably decreased ortapered slightly in width as illustrated, for convenience in running theend through the buckle and through the keeper loop 24 and also foraesthetic appeal.

For a portion of the length of the belt from the free end 25, the liningand backing portions are provided with aligned apertures 30 in which thebuckle tongue 22 is engaged in the use of the belt.

The front side of the belt has a covering which is generally designated31 and which provides concealment for the openings 30 and also providesa means for permitting the end of the buckle tongue to pass through forengagewent against the face bar 20 of the buckle in the mannerillustrated in Fig. 1. In the preferred form of the belt this facing orfront covering is made up of two bands or strips of material which aredesignated 32 and which are of approximately half the width of thelining 29, as shown in Fig. 4. These strips 32 of the facing materiallie with their inner edges in substantially abutting relation and havetheir outer edges extended beyond the outer edges of the lining strip 29and are secured by stitching 33 to the underturned edge portion 28' ofthe bordering band 28 '-which is integral with the backing or forms theturned-in portion of the backing as illustrated.

It will be seen that in assembling the parts the edge portions of thebacking 26 are stitched by the stitching 33 to the outer edges of thefacing portions 32 and the facing portions are then brought around tothe opposite face of the backing and are drawn together at their freeedges sufficiently to carry a portion of the backing material over toform the bordering bands 28, thus providing a concealed stitching orseam.

The free edge portions of the facing parts 32 are turned over and skivedas indicated at 34 to form the rounded inner borders 35 which cometogether along the longitudinal center of the belt and these borderportions are then stitched as indicated at 36 to the liner 29 and thebacking 26. The portions of the parts 32 lying between the stitchedlines 36 are separable to a sufficient extent to permit the free end ofthe buckle tongue to pass therebetween when it is extended through oneof the openings 30.

As illustrated in Fig. 4, the liner 29 is of slightly less width thanthe facing 31 and the edge portions of the liner are secured in place ina suitable manner, preferably by the use of adhesive in belts of leatherconstruction.

The belt described may be constructed of any suitable material, eitherleather or fabric, and it is also contemplated to use a combination ofthese materials, one example of such combination being illustrated inFig. Where the facing is shown as being made of a woven or braidedmaterial. In this construction the numeral 37 designates the backingstrip of material which may be made of leather and which is provided atthe proper locations along the length thereof with apertures to receivethe buckle tongue, one of which apertures is shown and designated 38.The facing of the belt is generally designated 39 and may be in the formof the wozen material which is conventionally used in certain beltconstructions and which covers the front side of the backing 37throughout the length and width of the same. Any suitable edge finishmay be employed as, for example, the backing material of leather, or anyother substance, may be of sufficient width to have a portion of itslongitudinal edge turned across the longitudinal edges of the facing 39to form the edge bands 4% corresponding to the edge bands 28.

With the construction of the character just described, that is, usingleather or other solid material for .thebac'king and braided or wovenmaterial for the facing, it will be seen that the buckle tongueapertures will be effectively covered or hidden from view but that whenthe belt is in use the buckle tongue can be readily forced through thewoven material to lie against the face of the bar portion 20 of thebuckle which will extend across the front of the woven or braided face.

It is also contemplated to apply the present invention to theconstruction of a one-piece plastic belt which may be formed byextrusion. In Fig. 6 there is illustrated in cross section a belt ofone-piece construction formed of plastic or similar material byextrusion, wherein the body of the belt is generally designated 41 andis provided with suitable buckle tongue receiving apertures which openthrough the rear face of the body. One of such apertures is designated42.

In the extrusion process the material of which the body 41 is formed isshaped so as to provide the front face of the body with twolongitudinally extending strips or hands 4-3 which correspond to theportions 32 of the facing 31 of the multi-ply construction illustratedin Figs. 1 to 4. These bands or strip portions 43 have free opposinglongitudinal edges which meet along a line extending longitudinally ofthe belt midway between its edges or along the medial part thereof andwhich edges overlie the openings 42 as illustrated. It will be readilyapparent that the strip or band portions 43 may be easily forced apartbut normally they lie together and relatively flatly against the face ofthe belt so as to effectively conceal the apertures through one of whichthe belt buckle tongue extends when the belt is in use. Obviously inthis construction, as well as in the other two embodiments of theinvention, the apertures will at all times be fully covered andconcealed from view and even when the belt buckle tongue is projectedthrough one of the apertures at the front side of the belt, as it isshown in Fig. 1, the opposing edges of the facing portions 32 will closesnugly around the buckle tongue so that the aperture through which thetongue extends will be substantially hidden.

The belt constructed according to the first described embodiment may bemade of leathers, or other materials, of contrasting colors, as forexample, the backing 26 may may be dark and the facing light. The turnededge portions 28 will thus provide edge bands of contrasting .color. Thelining band 29 may then be of the same color as the parts 32 of thefacing and thus separation of the edges 35 will not break the solidfront color by showing a part of the darker backing material.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there is provided by the presentinvention in its several embodiments a new and novel belt which willremain at all times in an attractive condition, even after extensiveuse, by reason of the fact that the buckle tongue apertures will not beexposed and even though they may become stretched or even torn bycontinued use, this fact will be completely concealed by the facingmaterial of the belt.

I claim:

1. A waist belt comprising an elongate backing band, a facing overlyingone side of the backing band, said backing band having in one endportion a longitudinal row of spaced belt buckle tongue aperturessubstantially along the longitudinal center of the belt, said facingembodying two strips of material lying in edge opposed relation andhaving their outer longitudinal edges secured to the adjacentlongitudinal edges of the backing band, and said opposed edges of thefacing strips being separably joined along a line extendingsubstantially continuously along the longitudinal center of the belt andconcealing said apertures.

2. A one-piece extruded plastic waist belt comprising an elongate bandof synthetic resin plastic having in one end portion a centrallongitudinal row of spaced belt buckle tongue apertures, andlongitudinal strips of the plastic extending along one face of the bandwith free edges in substantially abutting opposed relation substantially along the medial line of the band andrnerging integrally alongtheir outer portions with the band, said strips forming movableconcealing means for said -aper-' tures.

3. A waist belt comprising an elongate backing band, a facing overlyingone side of the backing band, said backing band having in one portion alongitudinal row .of spaced belt buckle tongue apertures, said facingembodying longitudinal bands of material each joining along onelongitudinal edge with ta longitudinal edge of the backing band andextending widthwise transversely of and toward the longitudinal centerof the backing band, the other longitudinal edges of said longitudinalbands being opposed along the longitudinal center of the backing bandand movably coact'ing in portions bordering said other longitudinaledges and substantially completely overlying and concealing said row ofapertures, the said opposed longitudinal edges of said longitudinalhands being adapted to be forced apart by a belt buckle tongue projectedfrom the back of the belt through one of said apertures be engaged witha coacting part of the buckle exposed across the front of the belt.

4. A waist belt having a front part forming the exposed face of the beltand a back part and having buckle tongue apertures opening through theback part, and separable means inherent in the front part and concealingsaid apertures from view on the front side, said separable means beingso formed as to permit the penetration of a buckle tongue therethroughfrom and through one of said apertures of the back part of the belt andfor exposure upon the said face of the front part of the belt.

5. A waist belt having a front part forming the exposed face of the beltand a back part and having a longitudinally extending series of spacedbuckle tongue apertJures opening through the back part in one endportion of the belt and means extending longitudinally of the front partof the belt and overlying and concealing said apertures from view at thefront of the belt, said means being formed to permit a belt buckletongue to be projected from the back part through one of said aperturestherein to and beyond the front part for exposure on the belt face.

6. The invention according to claim 5, wherein said means compriseselongate coacting elements having separable edge to edge relation alongthe longitudinal center of the belt.

7. The invention according to claim 5, wherein said means comprises areticulated material forming a part of the front side of the belt.

8. The invention according to claim 5, wherein the belt is formed in onepiece of one material and said means comprises longitudinal bandportions of said material lying in edge opposed relation over theapertures.

9. A waist belt comprising an elongate band of synthetic resin plastichaving in one end portion a central longitudinal row of spaced beltIbuckle tongue apertures, and longitudinal strips of the plasticextending along one face of the band with free edges in substantiallyabutting opposed relation substantially along the medial line of theband and merging along their outer portions with the band, said stripsforming moveable concealing means for said apertures.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS622,622 Harlan Apr. 4, 1899 627,864 Messick June 27, 1899 886,439Susseles May 5, 1908 1,411,666 Kroll Apr. 4, 1922 2,266,953 Blue Dec.23, 1941 2,671,903 Breul Mar. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 578,025 GreatBritain June 12, 1946

